New Era Therapeutic Counseling Center, LLC provides a variety of services that ensure all recipients and family members referred are evaluated and provided services and/or referred to other services as needed to meet their individual needs. These services include:

  1. Initial Screening: A screening is completed when a recipient personally calls or is referred to by a service agency, i.e.: (UT Tyler, Brentwood, Oceans, PCP, Court or Probation Officer, etc.). The recipient’s information is gathered, and a screening is completed to see if they qualify for NON-LMHA services. If the recipient qualifies, an Intake Assessment will be scheduled within 14 days of this contact. If they do not qualify, a referral source will be provided.
  2. Intake Assessment/Initial Authorization: During the intake assessment, the recipient and any supportive family members will meet with a licensed professional to be assessed. The recipient will be asked the reason for seeking services, their strengths, needs, and abilities, along with concerns that family members may have (if applicable). What the recipient and family members want or expect from counseling will be addressed along with their personal goals. The recipient’s history of mental illness, including any previous treatment, as well as family history, will be obtained at this time. Children and adolescents (age 20 and under) will complete this service at the agency office. A CANS (Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths Assessment) will be completed to determine the level of care and medical necessity. The CANS is a rating system used to determine the severity of one’s mental illness and how it affects their everyday functionality.
  3. Biopsychosocial CANS/ANSA: Adult recipients (age 21 and older) are required to go to an “Independent Assessor” and have a 1951i completed (which is like the initial assessment). The independent assessor will complete the 1915i and score the recipient on an ANSA scale (Adults Needs and Strengths Assessment). The independent assessor will send those forms to Medicaid along with a Plan of Care (treatment plan), and Medicaid will approve services and units. If the recipient has a 1915i and is already completed, they will go to the independent assessor who completed it and sign a new Freedom of Choice form naming New Era Therapeutic Counseling as the chosen provider. Once approved, it is good for one year. We at New Era Therapeutic Counseling can refer you to an independent assessor if you do not have one.
  4. Comprehensive Individual Treatment Planning: An individual treatment/service plan is developed with each recipient within the first 30 days of treatment. The treatment planning process for mental health rehabilitative services requires the active participation of the Medicaid-eligible person or LAR when necessary due to the person’s age or legal status. Plans of care are based on a comprehensive assessment and must address the person’s strengths, areas of need, the person’s preferences, and descriptions of the person.
  5. Reassessments/Reauthorization: To determine the type, amount, and duration of mental health rehabilitation services, providers must ensure that, at a minimum, a QMHP-CS administers the uniform assessments and obtains a recommended LOC from the CMBHS software system for the person receiving mental health rehabilitation services. Information will focus on any new behaviors or issues, progress made, any setbacks that occurred, response to treatment, and an updated score on the CANS/ANSA.
  6. Crisis Intervention: Crisis intervention services are intensive community-based one-to-one services provided to people who require services to control acute symptoms that may place the person at immediate risk of hospitalization, incarceration, or placement in a more restrictive treatment setting. This service includes assessment, behavioral skills training, problem-solving, and reality orientation to help them identify and manage their symptoms of mental illness and cope with stressors. Crisis intervention services may be provided in extended observation or crisis residential units. Crisis intervention services may be provided in extended observation or crisis residential units. Crisis intervention services may not be provided to a person who is currently admitted to a crisis stabilization unit. Emergency crisis services are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. During business hours, a recipient in crisis will call the office line and report the crisis to staff. After business hours, the crisis line is utilized for first contact (903) 392-6455. The counselor on call will respond to the recipient. Should the recipient reach a level where they are an immediate threat to themselves or others in which Crisis Intervention is not effective, they will be referred to the nearest ER or Psychiatric Hospital for more intensive care.
  7. Individual and/or Group Life Skills Training: Skills training and supportive interventions focus on the improvement of communication skills, appropriate interpersonal behaviors, and other skills necessary for independent living or, when age-appropriate, functioning effectively with family, peers, and teachers. Sessions are conducted by the QMHP and/or QMHP-CS and focus on increasing the LAR’s or primary caregiver’s understanding of and ability to respond to her person’s needs identified in the uniform assessment or documented in the treatment plan.
  8. Psychosocial Rehabilitation Services (PSR): Psychosocial rehabilitative services are social, behavioral, and cognitive interventions provided by members of a person’s therapeutic team that build on strengths and focus on restoring the person’s ability to develop and maintain social relationships, occupational or educational achievement, and other independent living skills that are affected by or the result of an SMI in persons who are 18 years of age and older. Sessions are conducted by the QMHP and/or QMHP-CS and focus on teaching skills needed to improve the recipient’s life and interpersonal relations.
  9. Psychiatric Medication Evaluation: New Era Therapeutic Counseling has a psychiatrist or Nurse Practitioner on staff who meets with the recipient for the purposes of medication management and follow-up. Recipients will be scheduled to see the doctor upon entering the program and every 4-6 weeks, depending on how their medication works. Medication education is provided to recipients to inform them of the medication they are taking, how they are taking it, the reason they are taking it, the effects they may have from taking it, and the desired outcomes of the medication. It is particularly important to keep an appointment with the doctor and to tell the doctor and staff of any adverse effects from the medications or if the problem is not improving.
  10. Medication Training and Support: Medication training and support services consist of education and guidance about medications and their possible side effects. It is curriculum-based training and guidance that serves as an initial orientation for the person in understanding the nature of their mental illness or emotional disturbances and the role of medications in ensuring system reduction and increased tenure in the community.